Amazon Echo now changes colour (of your Hue Bulbs)

Philips Hue just announced that their range of Philips Hue Lights now offer a greater amount of control through Amazon's Alexa. This includes the ability to change the bulbs colours with a voice command (previously it was only on/off or brighter/dimmer) . So for example "Alexa please turn the lounge lights to Orange" will now turn all the lights to orange.

Philips Hue Bulbs allow a wide range of lighting colours to be controlled in your home.

Philips explain it thus:"Your home just got a little smarter. And brighter. Philips Hue works with Amazon Echo, Amazon Echo Dot and Amazon Tap to control your lights with your voice. Use the Alexa Voice Service to switch on your Philips Hue lights before getting out of bed, to dim your Hue lights from the couch to watch a movie, or to set the lights for reading in your favorite chair —all without lifting a finger. Simply ask Alexa to "turn on the lights " or "dim the lights to 50 percent". More to come Philips Hue will be coming soon with new skills and functionalities to provide the best voice controlled lighting experience."

Set the scene by voice, "Alexa - turn living room lights purple"

Amazons Echo - control with your voice.

Think it's a gimmick? It's not, I don't think I've touched a light switch in my house for around a week, my kids love speaking to Alexa and even my wife (who struggles with technology) feels at ease turning lights on and off with voice.